After leaving Xu's, the others also returned home. Most of the shops were closed, waiting for the New Year. There were not many pedestrians on the streets, as everyone was at home preparing for the New Year.
Yuan and Chen lived in the alleys behind each other. They usually walked together, and today was no exception. They talked as they walked on the road, both saying how well Mr. Xu treated them.
The two of them used to earn 800 coins a month. Their family members praised their employers and asked them to work hard. They have become the main earners of the family. Now not only has their salary increased by 200 coins a month, but they also get a red envelope of ten taels of silver for the New Year. When they go back and tell their family members about this later, they will definitely be surprised.
The two of them also discussed that this matter should only be discussed at home and not told outside, otherwise it would arouse jealousy and easily cause trouble, causing trouble for both themselves and Xu Ji.
Yuan smiled and said, "I will definitely not tell anyone about this."
Everyone who makes money hides it. If you say it out loud, you will only make people jealous.
The two returned home happily, bringing not only a lot of food but also a red envelope containing ten taels of silver.
Both families were extremely surprised and gave them many instructions, asking them to work hard at Xu's and to be of the same mind to the boss, and not to be like the former Sun.
Lin also brought Da Niu and Er Niu back, and all three of them had happy faces. These days, Lin didn't save much money. She got 800 yuan a month as salary, and gave 500 yuan to the Luo family, leaving 300 yuan for herself. Even though she and her daughters ate and drank in restaurants, they still had to buy some daily necessities every month. She could save more than 100 yuan, which was already very frugal for her.
Now that she had received the red envelope of ten taels, she had no intention of returning it to the Luo family. She also planned to save it. When she would receive a monthly salary of one tael of silver next year, she would be able to save more every month. Together with the red envelope for the New Year, she would be able to buy a house on North Street in a few years and settle down completely.
Luo Danniu also received a monthly salary, which was the same as Lin's, eight hundred coins per month, plus ten taels at the end of the year.
She knew that Lin was saving money to buy a house, so she planned to save all her wages so that she could buy the house as soon as possible.
The mother and her two daughters chatted and laughed. Lin also asked the two girls what snacks they wanted to eat during the New Year and she would buy them tomorrow.
As she was speaking, the smile on Luo Danniu's face suddenly stopped and she pursed her lips.
Lin looked up and saw that it was Old Lady Luo and Luo Dagen. The mother and son had gone somewhere and were now driving a donkey cart back. Judging from the road, it seemed that they were returning from outside the town.
Old Lady Luo naturally saw the three of them, Lin's mother and daughter. She rolled her eyes and sneered, "Oh, isn't this Lin and my two ungrateful granddaughters?"
Lin took the eldest and second daughters by the hand and had no intention of paying any attention to the mother and daughter. She had no relationship with the Luo family and was not afraid of them. She took her two daughters and left.
Today, Old Lady Luo and Luo Dagen went to another village to look for a girl. The girl had a pair of fox eyes, and Old Lady Luo didn't like her, but Luo Dagen did. It seemed that she was the only one left in the girl's family, and they wanted a betrothal gift of twenty taels of silver. Old Lady Luo thought it was too expensive, but Luo Dagen liked her and planned to propose after the New Year so that he could marry her to his son as soon as possible.
On the way back, Old Lady Luo gave Luo Dagen some bad advice, telling him to carry the goods and go around the girl's house after the New Year to see if he could get her pregnant. The girl was the only one in her family, and if she could get pregnant, he could save even the twenty taels of silver.
Luo Dagen was still quite tempted, but he was reluctant to spend twenty taels of silver.
Seeing that her son listened to her, Old Lady Luo was very satisfied, so even when she ran into Lin and the two ungrateful people, she was in a good mood and even greeted the three of them.
But the three of them ignored her, and that bitch Lin took the two ungrateful people and left.
Old Lady Luo was a little angry and turned around and said, "Hurry up and send us this month's money. Dagen is going to get married after the New Year. The girl is pretty and virtuous. She will give Dagen a son. Unlike you, you are a hen that doesn't lay eggs. What's the point of having you? Let's see if there is a man willing to marry you in the future."
Luo Dagen drove the car without saying a word, still thinking in his mind how to marry the girl without giving a betrothal gift.
Lin didn't care. She just hoped that the girl was strong enough to control Old Lady Luo.
She said coldly, "I will send you five hundred coins tomorrow."
After saying that, he took Da Niu and Er Niu and left.
After turning the corner and no longer seeing the mother and son, Luo Da Niu was furious. However, she was not good at cursing, so she just said angrily, "Bad guys."
Lin smiled and said, "Don't be angry, big girl. Why should we be angry? Mr. Xu is very good. He gives us a total of 40 taels of silver a year. In a few years, we can buy a house and settle down. Our lives will get better and better. There is no need to be angry at these unrelated people."
Forty taels of silver a year for the mother and daughter is a huge sum of money. If the Luo family knew about it, they would definitely regret it to death.
Lin was indeed not angry. She just felt that the present life made her full of energy. She was only looking forward to the future and no longer afraid.
With her daughter by her side, she is not afraid of anything and will not get angry.
It turns out that sometimes taking a step forward is really that simple, but it took her more than ten years to dare to take this step.
The most obvious change was in the two girls after they left the Luo family. They were no longer timid and began to radiate their own brilliance.
Erniu also followed suit, "Sister is not angry, she is mean, let's ignore her."
Although the little girl was young, she remembered everything Lin had told her sister. She was very secretive about the money her mother and elder sister earned, and she would not tell anyone about it. She didn't even tell the little sisters next door who were good friends with her. She was very shrewd. The mother of the little sister next door who lived on the other side of North Street asked her, "Erniu, your mother earns 800 yuan a month. Xu Ji should earn more. Erniu, do you know how much your boss earns every day? Does the boss give your mother any rewards?"
The little girl shook her head like a rattle, "I don't understand, what is the reward? The food made by the host is delicious."
Seeing that she knew nothing, the aunts and old ladies next door didn't ask her any more questions.
In fact, they didn't have any bad intentions, they were just curious. They also felt sorry for Lin's mother and daughter. They also watched how Lin left the Luo family and started her own business, and they still admired Lin very much.
…
The next day, Xu Qinyu slept until noon. Wen cooked some noodles and everyone ate some for breakfast.
The evening meal was the New Year’s Eve dinner. The ingredients had all been bought. Wen processed the ingredients that could be processed by herself, and left the rest that could not be processed in advance untouched.
Xu Qinyu didn't fry any food this year. She was busy with the restaurant business. Unlike last year, she didn't take a break a few days before the New Year. So this year she planned to prepare a table full of New Year's dinner so that everyone could have a good meal.
We had the New Year’s Eve dinner at Zhu’s house.
The two families lived not far from each other, so after Xu Qinyu finished cooking, everyone brought the food over.
Governor Zhu and Mrs. Zhu came to visit the old lady yesterday. Of course, they did not bring all their children and grandchildren.
There are too many children and grandchildren in the house. Bringing them all will make the place crowded and noisy. The old lady needs quiet rest, and bringing all the children and grandchildren will definitely disturb her.
Another thing is that Mrs. Zhu has been calling the old lady "Mom" for more than a month. When her children and grandchildren come, they have to change their words, for fear that they might hear it accidentally. The old couple can't guarantee that their children and grandchildren will not spread the news, so they simply don't let them come here to celebrate the New Year.
The old lady didn't care about these things. She was old and had spent so many years celebrating the New Year with her children and grandchildren. Now she just wanted to spend the New Year with Shu Niang.
The New Year’s Eve dinner was very sumptuous, filling the entire table with Xu Qinyu’s signature dishes.
Knowing that the old lady loved to drink brown sugar porridge, Xu Qinyu also cooked a pot. This porridge was really comfortable to drink in winter. After drinking it, the body felt warm and the internal organs were unobstructed. It must be good for the body. The old lady drank two bowls every morning, and her complexion was indeed better than when she was in Raozhou City.
The family was having the New Year's Eve dinner. Although Mrs. Wen had a smile on her face, she was still worried about her son.
Xu Qinyu was in the same situation, she was also thinking about her fourth brother.
In her heart, Fourth Brother was like a family member. Where had he gone? When would he come back?
If you are doing business, why is there no trust at all?
In a distant country, Pei Weixuan was sitting on the eaves, looking at the moon in the distance.
He knew that the time here was different from that of the Dasheng Dynasty. It was daytime in the Dasheng Dynasty, but it was night here.
It is now the hour of Mao in the morning, and the sky is just beginning to turn pale, but in Dasheng Dynasty, it is probably the hour of Shen, just the time for evening meal. This year it is New Year's Eve, and everyone should have been having the New Year's Eve dinner.
Is this year’s New Year’s Eve dinner also made by Yu Niang?
Pei Weixuan sat on the eaves, one long leg propped up, half leaning against the corner of the eaves behind him, playing with a colorful glass hairpin in his hand. The glass hairpin was a crabapple red, but more transparent and slightly lighter in color. Because it was made of glass, the translucency allowed you to see scattered golden glimmers within. The head of the hairpin was a round bead, also a light crabapple color, with traces of golden light flowing inside.
Although the entire glass hairpin is simple and light in style, it is seamlessly integrated and emits soft light, which is really beautiful.
Huo Ye had just gotten up and left the room, and was about to practice swordplay when he looked up and saw his own prince sitting on the roof. He quickly jumped onto the roof and sat down next to the Fourth Prince.
Seeing the Fourth Prince playing with the glass hairpin, Huo Ye asked in surprise, "Your Highness, did you burn this thing?"
This thing is called colored glaze. It didn't exist in the Great Sheng Dynasty, but it is a relatively common handicraft here.
Since this thing was a work of art, the blond, blue-eyed people already knew they were from the other side of the sea and were unwilling to teach them how to make it. He and His Highness only knew that this thing was made by firing, but they were not sure how to fire it. It was when His Highness said he wanted to fire a hairpin himself as a gift for his wife that the people asked His Highness to fire it himself.
I didn't expect that His Highness really made it. Look at this glass hairpin, it's so beautiful.
Even Huo Ye had to admit the beauty of the hairpin. As a grown man, he couldn't help but stare at it.
If this hairpin were brought back to the Great Sheng Dynasty, it would be a truly unique and rare treasure, worth ten thousand taels of silver.
Huo Ye actually thought that His Highness's wish to burn a hairpin for his wife was just an excuse.
Because as long as His Highness fires it once by himself, he will understand everything. I am afraid that His Highness the Fourth Prince is already familiar with the entire process of firing glass.
Huo Ye really admired His Highness. When he first came here, he was unfamiliar with the place and the people were talking in bird language, which he could not understand at all. Looking at them was like looking at monkeys. His Highness learned the local language in just half a month and could communicate with these people very fluently.
Huo Ye said, "Your Highness, with this skill of firing colored glass, we will also be able to make money when we return."
With money, you can recruit soldiers and pay everyone a salary, so you don’t have to live a hard life.
Pei Weixuan nodded lightly, still thinking about home.
It has been almost a year since he came out, which was something he had not expected. He did not know that the overseas countries were so far away from the Great Sheng Dynasty.
If he had known it would take so long, he would have asked Chen Yi, who was staying on the island, to deliver a letter to his family.
He hopes that everyone in his family is safe and sound. When he returns with the crops and the technology to make glass, he will send some black-armored guards to secretly protect his family.
The appearance of the colored glass crafts would attract attention in the capital, and he was also worried that the new emperor and Empress Dowager Fu would find out about him.
It would be best if you don't notice it.
No matter what, the safety of his family comes first in his heart.
"Your Highness, when can we set off to go back?" Huo Ye wanted to leave this place as soon as possible. Not only could he not understand what was being said, but the food was terrible. All he had was toasted bread and sausages all day long. His mouth was almost tasteless from eating them, so he missed the food made by Miss Xu even more.
Pei Weixuan said, "Wait another month before setting off."
In winter, although the sea surface will not freeze like ordinary rivers and lakes, there will be cold waves, and the tides on the sea surface will cause strong winds and huge waves. Going out to sea at this time is a dead end.
The beginning of spring comes after the New Year. After the beginning of spring, the weather starts to get warmer and we can set sail and return to our homeland.
It was almost summer when we returned to the southwest.
When Huo Ye heard that it would take another month, his face turned pale.
Pei Weixuan carefully put the glass hairpin into his arms, jumped down from the eaves and said, "Let's go back to the house and have breakfast."
Huo Ye's face turned pale, "Your Highness, this morning and evening meal is really disgusting. We have all become thinner."
Not to mention that it is not as good as what Miss Xu makes, it is not even as good as the ordinary food stalls in the Dasheng Dynasty. No matter how you eat it, you can't get used to it. But every day, His Highness eats these things with a normal expression.
Not only he lost weight, but His Highness also lost weight.
His jade-colored skin was tanned by the sea, but after resting here for the past two months, His Highness's skin has become whiter.
Pei Weixuan didn't tell Huo Ye that he also missed the food cooked by Yu Niang.
Not only do I miss eating...
…
On Xu Qinyu's side, everyone accompanied Old Lady Zhu to finish the New Year's Eve dinner. They did not go out to the Lantern Festival Market, but stayed at home to talk with the old lady.
After talking for a while, the old lady felt sleepy and went back to her room to wash up and rest.
Xu Qinyu, Wen Shi, Ning Jie'er and others also returned.
This year, Xu Qinyu didn't have much mood to visit the Lantern Festival. She ran a catering business and only had a few days off throughout the year. Now that she could rest for a few days in a row, she just wanted to rest. In addition, she was worried about her fourth brother's safety, so she really didn't have much mood to go out and play.
The same is true for the Wen family, and even Sister Ning is worried about her fourth brother.
This year, apart from Mrs. Zhu finding Old Lady Zhu, nothing else happened.
Zhu has been living there these days.
For the next three days, Xu Qinyu rested well at home.
After the New Year, when they had to visit relatives on the first and second days of the lunar year, Xu Qinyu didn't have to worry about it, as Wen would go.
The Pei family only has relatives here such as the Wen family and the Zhu family.
Wen did not go to the first or second branch of the Wen family. She didn't even go to see Old Man Wen.
The Wen family had long known that Zhu did not have tuberculosis. If she went back, Mr. Wen and Mrs. Wen would not treat her well and might even scold her. She did not want to go to the Wen family's house and be scolded.
The third branch of the Wen family is Cheng Ge'er's family. This relative has to visit. The two families meet almost every day, so they just need to visit each other to pay New Year's greetings.
It was the same with the Zhu family. They would come to wish each other a happy new year, chat for a few minutes and then leave.
These three days passed extremely quickly, and Xu Qinyu felt like three days had passed in the blink of an eye.
On the fourth day of the New Year, restaurants open.
Although the New Year has passed, it is not yet the beginning of spring and the weather is still a bit cold, so everyone is still wearing warm clothes.
Therefore, there are still many people eating mutton hotpot. Xu Qinyu estimates that this mutton hotpot can be eaten for at least a month, and it will become a specialty of the restaurant in the future. Even in summer, the hotpot can still be eaten. Eating hotpot and drinking cold drinks in summer is also addictive.
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Mrs. Lu from Raozhou City came to Yuanbao Town.
They will start making wine when summer comes. They have to find a winery first, and it has to be a larger winery. Mrs. Lu can foresee that wine can be a big business, so she plans to buy a large winery directly. If there is no large winery, she will have to find a place to build a winery herself.
It was almost noon when Mrs. Lu arrived. Zhen Wu drove her here in a carriage. She might stay in Yuanbao Town for a few days. Mrs. Lu also packed some luggage and prepared to stay in the inn in Yuanbao Town for a few days.
She came directly to Xu's Restaurant.
It's noon now and everyone is taking a lunch break.
The kitchen and the front hall were cleaned, and the ingredients were prepared. Half an hour before dinner, Xu Qinyu would boil the soup base, and Cheng Ge'er and Feng Ge'er would cut the mutton, so everyone could rest at this time.
Xu Qinyu didn't care when they were resting. If there was no space in the backyard, they would lie on the bench in the front hall.
However, even at noon, there was still a closed sign hanging on the restaurant's door.
If it is not written, some diners may not be able to get a table for breakfast and dinner, and may come specifically to eat during the lunch hour.
Xu Qinyu can't work intensively all day long, she also needs to take a break.
Zhen Wu stopped the carriage, went over, opened the curtain, and led Madam Lu out of the carriage.
Mrs. Lu was a beautiful woman. Even though she was almost forty, her skin was still fair and tender. She wore a white embroidered satin jacket, a long skirt of the same color, and a cloak. She usually dressed in a dignified and elegant manner.
After getting off the carriage, Mrs. Lu looked around Xu's Restaurant. The floor at the entrance was swept clean, and the open windows were also spotless. She also saw the closed sign hanging at the door.
Mrs. Lu walked into the restaurant holding up her skirt, and Zhen Wu followed her without saying a word.
Xu Qinyu is resting in the kitchen at the moment, not in the front.
In front were Lin and the others, all lying on a bench to rest.
Yuan heard the noise and sat up from the bench. Seeing Madam Lu, she said, "Madam, we are not receiving guests at noon. If you want to eat, you have to wait until dinner time."
Although Mrs. Lu was dressed modestly, it was obvious that her clothes and cloak were not cheap. However, many wives from wealthy families in Yuanbao Town came to have dinner with her, so Yuan thought that it was a rich lady from one of her families who came to have dinner.
Madam Lu smiled and said, "I'm not here to eat. I'm here to see your host, Xu. Is she here? I'm from Raozhou City. I want to discuss the wine business with your host."
Upon hearing this, Yuan immediately said, "Madam, please wait a moment. I will go and call our host."
After saying that, he got up quickly and went to the backyard to call for help.
When Xu Qinyu heard that she was from Raozhou City and was talking about her wine business, she knew it was Mrs. Lu.
When I went to the front hall, I saw that it was indeed Mrs. Lu.
Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "Madam Lu, are you here to see the winery?"
Mrs. Lu nodded.
Xu Qinyu couldn't help but glance at the man behind Madam Lu. The man was tall and strong, with dark skin and handsome features. He should be in his thirties.
After taking a quick look, Xu Qinyu invited Mrs. Lu to sit down by the window.
Lin went to the kitchen to make three cups of tea, then quietly left.
Mrs. Lu explained her purpose, and Xu Qinyu said, "I bought a workshop in the twelfth month of the New Year. This workshop was also a winery before, but I used it to cure ham. Now I use four or five rooms, and there are about ten rooms left." She also talked about the size of the winery.
Her workshop used to be a small winery, and even if it was used to make wine, it couldn't produce much.
When Mrs. Lu heard the size of the workshop, she knew it was not enough. It was too small and she was afraid that it would not be able to hold many wine jars. The finished product could only produce a few thousand bottles at most, which was not enough for the caravan to make several trips.
However, the two of them still went to the North Street workshop to take a look.
The one guarding the workshop today is Mo Yu. When Mo Yu heard the footsteps at the workshop door, he came over and squatted at the door, howling. He recognized the footsteps of Xu Qinyu.
Xu Qinyu smiled and said to Madam Lu, "There's a leopard in there that I raised, named Moyu. Don't worry, Madam, it won't hurt anyone."
Mrs. Lu couldn't help but become curious. When Xu Qinyu opened the door, Mo Yu became even more excited and rubbed her legs vigorously.
Zhen Wu also walked from Madam Lu's side to her side, probably because he was afraid that the leopard would hurt her.
But seeing the big leopard rubbing against people like that, he relaxed.
Mrs. Lu thought the leopard was very interesting, like a big dog, so close to people. She was a little worried at first, but now she was not afraid at all. She couldn't help but reach out and touch the black jade. The feeling was really good, even better than the silk she was wearing. It seemed that Miss Xu took good care of the leopard.
Mo Yu rubbed against Xu Qinyu for a while before the three of them entered the workshop. Xu Qinyu also took Mrs. Lu to see her pickled and fermented ham.
Mrs. Lu didn't take it seriously, thinking it was just an ordinary cured pork leg. She just didn't know why it was still hanging there. The cured pork could be eaten after being cured for a month.
The workshop here is indeed a little small. Mrs. Lu knows that it cannot accommodate the wine. Even in Yuanbao Town, there is no winery this big. She plans to see if there is land in Yuanbao Town that is big enough for her to build a winery. If not, she can only look for land in nearby villages and towns. It is very easy to carve out a large piece of land in the village.
Xu Qinyu doesn't have to worry about the winery, but she also hopes that the location will be closer so that it will be more convenient to travel back and forth.
Mrs. Lu and Xu Qinyu could only go back to the restaurant first. When leaving, Xu Qinyu asked Moyu to keep an eye on the workshop. In fact, they didn't need to come and watch over it during the day. There were people coming and going here, and few people dared to climb over the wall during the day. But the two were too diligent. She asked them to keep an eye on the hams in the workshop, and they even took turns coming over during the day.
Mo Yu rubbed Xu Qinyu gently again, then lay down in front of the house where hams were hanging.
Only then did Xu Qinyu and Madam Lu leave.
When I went out, I ran into a few people in their teens and twenties, who looked like ordinary hooligans on the street.
A few gangsters glanced at Xu Qinyu and Madam Lu, then glanced into the workshop. They happened to be facing away from Mo Yu, so they didn't see Mo Yu inside. However, they still smelled a faint aroma of bacon. It should not be ordinary bacon. It tasted much better than ordinary bacon. Although the smell was faint, it could be smelled.
Zhen Wu looked over and saw that the gangsters were a little afraid of him and ran away quickly.
Xu Qinyu didn't care. She got on the carriage and went back to Xu's with Madam Lu. After talking for a while, Madam Lu said, "I'll go find an inn to stay in first. I'll go walk around the town tomorrow and see if I can find a big winery or some land."
Mrs. Lu left with Zhen Wu.
The two of them found an inn to stay in. Zhen Wu moved all his luggage from the carriage to the Tianzi room. Madam Lu rested for an hour and then asked Zhen Wu, "Is it 3:00 PM now? Xiaowu, you haven't tried the restaurant run by Miss Xu. Let's go to Xu's tonight and try it."
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